Page 58 - Sustainability Report 2019

CHAPTER 5 | Ratti, adding value to the community and the region
EFI chose Ratti because of its focus on and experience
of bringing creative potential to fruition and because of its know-how in supporting EFI’s activities under the aegis of the United Nations.
With an eye on the future from an international perspective, Ratti sponsors TexSelect, which every year invites the tutors form graduate courses and Master’s degrees to select the most creative students of the year. The 24 best graduates selected are presented to buyers, to the press and to the sponsors at TexSelect London Preview and the Première Vision Paris
trade show. The worthy winners of this mentorship programme have earned not only an excellent first experience in the textile-industrial field, but also an opportunity to collaborate with the most prestigious Italian textile companies and to be taught and updated on the use of CAD software.
5.3 Partnerships that do good
Ratti is seeking to become a point of reference for all organisations that promote projects that fit the theme of sustainability, by developing a plan of transversal initiatives to support the evolution of policies and to safeguard the values and objectives relating to social sustainability.
With the aim of dedicating special attention to those less fortunate, Ratti works with Quid, an ethical and sustainable fashion brand which produces handmade garments and accessories, created with end-of-line fabrics made available by textiles companies. Hemming is carried out through tailoring provided by 20 women from disadvantaged groups.
The company is also partnering with Made in Carcere (Made in Prison), a not-for-profit social cooperative that helps 20 inmates to manufacture accessories which give a second life to fabric scraps from textile companies. The company is constantly donating fabric scraps to Italian fashion schools so they can carry out internal work and projects. In addition, the company supplies fabric every year and follows students as they make their collections for their final theses.
Finally, Ratti is in partnership with Siticibo, a programme of the Banco Alimentare Onlus Foundation, that was set up in Milan in 2003 to collect excess food from canteens. It is also a partner of an initiative organised
at the social theatre in Como to collect funds for the Umberto Veronesi Foundation. Ratti also participated
in an initiative organised by Associazione Cometa at the Palazzo della Borsa (stock exchange) in Milan, in order to gather funds for the project “Aiutami a crescere” (Help me to grow) to assist 30 children from the day centre “Una Casa per Crescere” and to support 80 young people from the school “Oliver Twist” with training and recruitment.
The company also partners with Bollate Prison and
with Como Prison, setting the objective of involving the inmates in extra activities that mean they do not have to remain in their cells. The aim of this initiative is to teach the inmates small “tricks” for sewing, cutting and working with sewing machines. The material used – extremely fine fabric – was donated by Ratti, who, on a regular basis and for more than a year, has supplied the material used to make bags of various types as well as some garments. The proceeds from the sale of the bags were used to purchase consumables, through a type of self- financing.
At Bollate, however, the material from the Guanzate
site, in addition to being taken to a tailors’ workshop managed by a cooperative, was distributed to the young women in the prison who, in their free time, were able to express their creativity by designing suits, scarves and jackets. Within this fashion team, some inmates made, in addition to fashion garments, a number of dolls made from fabric. They were thus able to produce a new and unique collection.
Another significant partnership launched in 2019 was that between the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) and Ratti. EFI was launched with the aim of putting into contact the most talented people in the global fashion world with small craftsmanship organisations in the poorest areas that are, however, developing.
Under the hashtag “no charity, just work” the programme seeks to improve creative and sustainable cooperation between the brands and local craftsmen, while fully respecting people and the indigenous production environment, paying attention to centuries-old craftsmanship linked to local traditions.
From this perspective, EFI chose Ratti because of its focus on and experience of bringing creative potential to fruition and because of its know-how in supporting EFI’s activities under the aegis of the United Nations. Specifically, the project “The peace scarf” involves more than 30 silk producers in the area of Shekiban in the province of Herat, who follow the complete production
The project “The peace scarf” involves more than 30 silk producers in the area of Shekiban in the province of Herat in Afganistan
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